*    Group quiz on film Hearts and Hands (from last Thursday), "The Dailiness of Women's Lives" by Aptheker, and readings on Margaret Sanger

*    Talk about Aptheker article
    *    Article an attempt to recreate the past from non traditional media such as quilts (like the one with all the names on it except the one
            of the woman who made it), storytelling/gossiping , and actions (such as taking food to the old woman = understanding that
            someone will support the old woman)
    *    What assumptions are made about men, women and society?
        *    Women's oppression was detailed as: "male domination", "subordination to men", "strangulation of creativity", institutionalizied
                motherhood due to men's "power" including regulating available of contraception.
        *    Major assumption: men and women have totally different standpoint of what they observe.  (Related aside: epistemology= study of
                what we know and how we know it; study of development of particular standpoints)
        *    Major assumption (of sorts) #2: women's way of knowing= intuition when men use reason as a way of knowing.

*    Most women in article have "false conciousness" of their role (see Marxist aside below for discussion)

*    Also many women in article fit in "essentialist categories"- women who seem to be happy to be mothers, housekeepers etc
        *    Not true of all women (take into example Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Margaret Sanger, etc)

*    Huge aside: Marxist theory
    *    Fundemental tenet of Marxist theory: experience and who we are is derived from material conditions in our lives
    *    Clash of Marxist and idealist theory:
        *    Marxist: who we are is derived from material conditions
        *    Idealist:  Platonic view that current world we live in is a shadow of the ideal world we cannot reach except at death
    *    More Marxist stuff and capitalism discussion:
        *    Marxist theory says that the modes of production and who controls them determines where you are socially.  The modes of
                production form the base of society and everything else is superstructure to it.
        *    After (and during) Industrial Revolution the middle class (or bourgeosie) holds the wealth and political control.
            *    Literature is then written for middle class and the dominant religious trend is towards Protestantism.
            *    Bourgeoisie skim profit from difference between wages paid to working class (proletariat) and price charged for goods.
                *    This profit is then reinvested (so it is used as capital).  Rich get richer and poor get screwed over even more.
            *    From the control of the middle class we begin to see the rise of the nuclear family and a push for democracy (for all the people,
                    or at least all the middle class) and the sufferage movement (because if you're middle class and you hold the wealth you want
                    to be able to say how much the government can take away in taxes).
            *    Also from big split between classes come the "false conciousness" (or ideology) where you reason that you are in a bad place
                    socially and/or economically because you didn't work hard enough, long enough, didn't kiss enough butts, whatever rather than
                    you are restricted in social and economic movement due to society.
            *    Ultimately, there must be a large split between the classes (or genders in relation to the stuff we've been reading) because
                    someone is always needed to be the grunt labor, or even unemployed in the system for it to work properly (though most
                    people don't want to admit it!)
   *    Later Marxist scholars such as Althusser say that there are Ideolgical State Apparatuses and repressive state apparatuses (society
            tells you what to think or do and if you don't like they have things like prisons and mental institutions to keep you away and try and
            force you to conform).  Also need ideolgies to organize the world.
 

*    Today we took a group qiuz that consisted of two parts.  First, each group wrote 3 quiz questions pertaining to "The Dailiness
        of Women's Lives", the Hearts and Hands video, and the Sanger readings. (20 minutes)
*    The second part of the quiz was also done in groups.  All groups switched quizes, and each group took a quiz written by another group.
        (20 minutes)
*    Dr. McBride gave us all Girl Scout cookies.  They were good.  Hope you were there!

*    "The Dailiness of Women's Lives"
    *    There are very few written histories about women.  Many stories are recorded in actions that are never spoken, but simply
            understood. (ex. The woman who had groceries taken to her every time she was visited.)
    *    Many stories about women are recorded in non-traditional media.  It is important to read the silences. (ex. The quilt that had
            everyone's name but the name of the woman who made it.)
    *    Aptheker's Perspective/Assumption:
        *    Women's oppression- ("Male domination", "Subordinated to men", "Strangulation of creativity".)
        *    Stories that Aptheker wrote about:
            *    Woman who killed her husband- Clues were inside the house.  Only the women were able to discover the clues.  The murder
                    was the fault of the other women in the community because they failed to comfort the wife.
        *    Motherhood is the center of the "Dailiness of Women's Lives."

*    Epistemology:  The study of how we know things and what we can know.
    *    Standpoint Epistemology:  What we know is dependant upon where we stand.
        *    Women know and view things differently than men.
        *    Women's lives are constantly interrupted.

*    Quilts:  A true symbol of the Dailiness of Women's Lives because many little pieces are fitted together in order to make a whole.

*    Discussion of Marxism
    *    Materialist (Marx):  Who we are, our literature, and our social relations are formed by the material conditions (world) around us.
    *    Idealist (Plato):  The world around us is simply the shadow of the real, idealistic world.

*    Modes of Production:  Where does wealth come from?
    *    For Marx- The mode of production forms the base to any society.  Everything else is superstructure.  There is dominance of a
            particular social class (middle class).
    *    Bourgeoisie:  middle class
    *    Proletariat:  working class
    *    The middle class makes money by keeping worker's wage as low as possible and sale price as high as possible.  This margin is the
            profit and equals capital.
        *    Where you stand in the capitalist society determines how you see yourself and the world.
        *    Women's labor is invisible, but essential to this scheme.

*    False Consciousness:  A world view that makes us blind to the way our system works.
    *    (False consciousness idealology):  We can't function without one.  It's how we view our world. All ideologies organize the world.
            We must have one.
    *    Essentialist categories:  Men and women are essentially/innately different.

*    What can we do?
    *    There is no escaping this circle.
    *    It is important to maintain consciousness.  (Example: Margaret Sanger and all of the progress that one woman made.)